Current methods for the treatment of autoimmune diseases of the lung rely on powerful immunosuppressive medications with significant systemic side effects. But validated lung-specific autoantigens, which may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune-mediated lung diseases, are currently unknown.
Therefore, a significant biomedical need exists for the identification of lung autoantigens and methods of their use as prognostic or diagnostics biomarkers for autoimmune diseases of the lung. A need also exists for antigen-specific therapies for autoimmune disease of the lung, such as interstitial lung disease.